Photo: Gabriel Picard · CC BY-SA 4.0Acton Vale is older than 84% of Canadian towns: a median age of 49.6
Where 19% of residents are 65 or over across Canada’s towns, Acton Vale has 27%. The 2021 Census found 3,480 households here; by July 2025 the population was about 7,945. Census figures put residents with no religion at 23% locally. At 0.5%, the share of residents without Canadian citizenship is lower than in 96% of Canadian towns.
What stands out about the people of Acton Vale
Common-law couples
28% of residents 15 and over live common-law, more than in 92% of Canadian towns; 28% are married. Couples ↓
Written from the data on this page: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census.
Bilingual residents make up 21% in Acton Vale, more than in 75% of Canadian towns
Every figure here comes from the 2021 Census unless it carries another date. English, French and the other languages people grew up with or speak at home.
Can hold a conversation in · share of all residents
Mother tongue · share of all residents
By its share of residents whose mother tongue is English (0.9%), Acton Vale is below 96% of Canadian towns. As a reference point, 7.5% of residents speak English and French across Canada’s towns.
Acton Vale changed by −1% from 2016 to 2021, slower than 83% of Canadian towns
The census counts of 2016 and 2021, the estimate after them, and the change set beside other towns.
Change, 2016 to 2021
By July 2025, the estimate had risen a further 4%.
9.3% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 76% of Canadian towns
Share of residents in each five-year band; the tick is the typical town.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with nearly one in ten residents. Across Canada’s towns, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of Canadian towns of 2,500+
■ Acton Vale, 49.6. The typical town is 42.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split.
37% of households are one person living alone, a share 84% of Canadian towns don’t reach
Household types, then household sizes.
Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns
People per household
Canada’s towns.
Households average 2.1 people, against 2.4 across Canada’s towns. On average, 27% of households are one person living alone across Canada’s towns. One-parent families: nearly a tenth of the total.
A higher share of common-law partners than 92% of Canadian towns, at 28%
Marital status of residents 15 and over, with common-law couples counted apart.
Marital status · residents 15 and over
Never married and not common-law: 29% of adults (typical: 27%). Compared with other places, married residents 15 and over are scarce here: 28%, fewer than in 93% of Canadian towns. Across Canada’s towns, common-law partners come to 11%.
37% of households rent their home, more than in 70% of Canadian towns
Houses and apartments, owners and renters, older and newer homes. Prices, rents and shelter costs are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Owners and renters · share of households
When homes were built · share of homes
Older homes outnumber new: 26% predate 1961, 12% date from 2001 or later. The usual figure: a quarter of households rent their home across Canada’s towns. Households in buildings of five or more storeys are rarer here than in 74% of Canadian towns. 61% of households live in a single-detached house, against 64% across Canada’s towns.
The midpoint household income is $57,600 a year
Census incomes cover 2020, when emergency benefits like CERB lifted many households’ totals. Household income before tax: the median, and households by income group.
Households by income · share of households
Household incomes run lower in Acton Vale: half had less than $57,600, 33% under the median across Canada’s towns ($86,000). For Quebec’s towns, the median household income is $74,000. Emergency and recovery benefits reached 28% of those with an income, beside a typical 28%.
1.5% of residents are immigrants
Immigrants by continent of birth and when they arrived, citizenship, and who moved in recently.
Immigrants, by continent of birth · share of all residents; the bar runs to 20%
When immigrants arrived · share of immigrants
Citizenship and moving · share of residents
Where 17% of residents are immigrants across Canada’s towns, Acton Vale has 1.5%. A year before the census, 11% lived somewhere else: fewer than the typical 11% across Canada’s towns.
77% said they are Christian and 23% that they have no religion
Visible minority and Indigenous identity, then religion.
Visible minority and Indigenous identity · all residents
Religion · all residents
Across Canada’s towns, 15% of residents belong to a visible minority; in Acton Vale, 1.1%. In Acton Vale, 2.3% of residents have an Indigenous identity.
Only 8.3% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in Acton Vale
Highest certificate, diploma or degree of residents aged 25 to 64.
Highest qualification · residents 25 to 64
No certificate, diploma or degree is held by 23%; in the typical town the share is 9.5%. For comparison, 27% of residents 25 to 64 hold a bachelor’s degree or higher across Canada’s towns.
In work on census day: 58% of adults
Counted in May 2021, during COVID-19, these rates catch the job market before it had recovered. The census’s work rates at a glance. Jobs, industries and the commute are on Work & commute.
About as many work here as in the typical town: 58%, against 58% across Canada’s towns.
Ranked by age, 7th oldest of 41 towns this size
Similar-sized towns by median age; each dot is a town.
Median ages climb from 27.4 (Taber) to 58.8 (Minden Hills) across the group. By median age, Acton Vale sits among Cardinal (48.4), Otonabee-South Monaghan (49.2), Scenic Acres (50.7) and Electoral Area A, Nanaimo (51.2).
Every neighbour of Acton Vale has a younger population
The closest towns, coloured by how old their residents are.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acton Vale | 7,945 | — | 49.6 | 27% | 1.5% |
| Saint-Théodore-d'Acton | 1,650 | 6.7 km | 40.4 | 18% | 2.2% |
| Roxton Falls | 1,399 | 8.5 km | 46.4 | 22% | 0.8% |
| Upton | 2,149 | 8.9 km | 43.6 | 19% | 2.7% |
| Roxton | 1,180 | 11.1 km | 44 | 21% | 1.3% |
| Wickham | 2,745 | 14.0 km | 39.2 | 16% | 1.5% |
| Saint-Valérien-de-Milton | 1,794 | 14.1 km | 41.6 | 16% | 2.6% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The census’s own words. The census takes “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act: anyone other than Indigenous peoples who is non-white in colour or race. Indigenous identity, immigrant status and religion are what residents reported, compared here with other towns and never used as a label.
- Against Quebec’s towns and Canada’s towns. Each comparison is its own median: over Quebec’s towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more, and over all Canadian towns of that size (whole cities and First Nations reserves left out). Percentiles are within Canada only.
- What these tables don’t give. Not in the Census Profile: unpaid care, cars, internet access, and how each age group has changed since 2016. We also chart no ethnic origins besides visible minority and Indigenous identity.
Questions about Acton Vale’s residents
How diverse is Acton Vale?
1.5% of residents are immigrants (Canada’s towns: 17%); 1.1% belong to a visible minority and 2.3% have an Indigenous identity.
What religion are people in Acton Vale?
77% are Christian and 23% have no religion; 0.4% follow another religion.
Is Acton Vale good for families?
Under 15: 15% (Canada’s towns: 16%). Couple families: 49% of households. One-parent families: 8.2%. Schools near Acton Vale are on its Schools page.
What is the median income in Acton Vale?
The median household in Acton Vale took in $57,600 in 2020, against $86,000 across Canada’s towns.
What is the population of Acton Vale?
Acton Vale had about 7,945 residents in July 2025, Statistics Canada estimates; the 2021 Census counted 7,605, about the same as 2016.
What is the average age in Acton Vale?
A median age of 49.6, older than 84% of Canadian towns. Children under 15 make up 15%, and people 65 and over 27%.
Is Acton Vale bilingual?
Both official languages are spoken by 21% of residents, against a typical 7.5% across Canada’s towns. 0.2% speak only English and 78% only French; 97% grew up with French.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population · Statistics Canada, population estimates for 1 July 2025 (table 17-10-0155). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).